your Bibles to 1st Kings chapter 22. Finishing up the life of Ahab, we looked at 1 Kings 21 on the day that we looked at Stephen's defense, or rather his arrest, seeing the parallels between Stephen and Naboth in 1 Kings 21. I thought it would be good for us to see the end of Ahab, how it all turned out with reference to him. As Elijah the Tishbite had prophesied in 1 Kings 21, that Ahab would in fact die.
Well, that is recorded for us. here in 1 Kings 22. I'll begin reading in verse 29. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went up to Ramoth Gilead. And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you put on your robes.
So the king of battle, the king of Israel rather, disguised himself and went into battle. Now the king of Syria had commanded the 32 captains of his chariot, saying, Fight with no one, small or great, but only with the king of Israel. So it was when the captains of the chariot saw Jehoshaphat that they said, Surely it is the king of Israel. Therefore they turned aside to fight against him.
And Jehoshaphat cried out, And it happened, when the captains of the chariot saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him. Now a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, turn around and take me out of the battle, for I am wounded. The battle increased that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot, facing the Syrians, and died at evening.
The blood ran out from the wound onto the floor of the chariot. Then as the sun was going down, a shout went throughout the army, saying, every man to his city and every man to his own country. So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried the king in Samaria. Then someone washed the chariot at a pool in Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood while the harlots bathed, according to the word of the Lord which he had spoken.
Now the rest of the acts of Ahab and all that he did, the ivory house which he built and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel? So Ahab rested with his fathers. Then Ahaziah, his son, reigned in his place. Jehoshaphat, the son of Esau, had become king over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab, king of Israel.
Jehoshaphat was 35 years old when he became king, and he reigned 25 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azabah, the daughter of Shilhai, and he walked in all the ways of his father Esau. He did not turn aside from them, doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away, for the people offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.
Also, Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel. Now, the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, the might that he showed, and how he made war, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And the rest of the perverted persons who remained in the days of his father Asa, he banished from the land. There was then no king in Edom, only a deputy of the king.
Jehoshaphat made merchant ships to go to Ophir for gold, but they never sailed, for the ships were wrecked at Etzion Geber. Then Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, said to Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with your servants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat would not. And Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father.
Then Jehoram his son reigned in his place. Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, became king over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel. He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. For he served Baal and worshipped him, and provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger, according to all that his father had done.
Amen. Well, let us pray. Father in heaven, thank you for the written word. Thank you for both the Old and the New Testaments.
And we would pray tonight that you'd help us to learn good lessons from this death of Ahab, and from the many ways the folly of Jehoshaphat. We would pray, Father in heaven, that you would help us to be careful in our Christian lives, help us to be faithful to the God who has saved us, help us to bring glory unto you. And we would pray for the Holy Spirit now to help, to guide, to lead, and to direct us as we consider the word of truth. And we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen.
Introduction
Well, as I mentioned earlier, the prophet Elijah had said that Ahab would die in 1 Kings chapter 21, and in the first half of this particular chapter, we see as well the prophetic pronouncement that Ahab was going to die. Remember, there is this alliance between Israel and Judah, and Israel is represented by King Ahab. Judah is led by King Jehoshaphat. And at the beginning of chapter 22, Ahab wants to enter into this alliance with Jehoshaphat to go and liberate Ramoth Gilead.
It was presently under Syrian occupation. And so Ahab wants to go and get Ramoth Gilead back. So Jehoshaphat enters into this alliance with Ahab. But of course, Jehoshaphat being a godly king, we see that there in the description beginning in verse 41.
As a godly king, he wants the prophetic word. He wants to know the Lord's mind on this. And so, of course, Ahab has toadies. He has false prophets that are going to tell him exactly what he wants to hear.
And these men come, and to a man, they all say, yeah, go into battle. You're going to win. You're going to liberate Ramoth Gilead, and everything's going to be wonderful. Well, Jehoshaphat asks, well, is there any other prophet?
And of course, Ahab says, yeah, there's one, but I hate him. Because he never tells me what I want to hear. He only tells me the truth. That's a pretty bad admission or candid statement, but that is Micaiah the prophet.
Now, Micaiah the prophet obviously prophesies to Ahab that he's going to die in battle. And for that, for that truth-telling, Micaiah gets slapped on the face, he gets put into prison, and he's given rations of bread and water. So now we pick up in the story where Ahab and Jehoshaphat are going to go to Ramoth Gilead in order to engage this battle.
Sermon Outline Announced
So I want to look first at the death of Ahab in verses 29 to 40, and then finally or secondly the reigns of Jehoshaphat and Ahaziah in verses 41 to 54. I think there's a lot of good practical lessons here that we can glean from this passage in 1 Kings 22, but
The Alliance: Piety Without Good Sense
note first this alliance between Ahab and Jehoshaphat in verse 29. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went up to Ramoth, Gilead. So the rejection of the true prophet of God, Micaiah, he said, if you go into battle, you will die. So obviously, Ahab disregards that.
Obviously, Ahab has no time for that. Obviously, Ahab is more inclined to listen to the 400 false prophets that say, go ahead and go into battle because everything's going to be OK. Everything is going to be just peachy. The reception of the false prophets, including Zedekiah with his horns of iron and his display of victory in terms of Israel's army.
And then we see the king of Judah respond favorably to this, and this is quite intriguing. Ahab's report concerning Micaiah in verse 18, and the multitude of false prophets make an impression on Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was the voice of reason to initially ask for the prophetic word. The 400 false prophets testify, and yet this man Jehoshaphat sides with the false prophet testimony.
This indicates, or this illustrates to us, that true piety is not always accompanied by good sense. Now, good sense is not a substitute for true piety, but true piety without good sense leads to the sorts of things that we see Jehoshaphat undertake in this particular section of Holy Scripture. We ought to pray to the Lord that our piety would be true, that our righteousness would be good, but that we would have good sense. that we would operate according to wisdom, that we would function in a manner consistent with the Word of God in its entirety. Matthew Henry says, that pious prince, talking about Jehoshaphat, who had desired to inquire by a prophet of the Lord, as disrelishing and discrediting Ahab's prophets, should yet proceed after so fair a warning, is a matter of astonishment.
In other words, they heard the true prophetic word uttered by this man Micaiah, and Jehoshaphat nevertheless resists that and enters into this alliance with Ahab. Now,
The Battle at Ramoth Gilead
notice the battle at Ramoth Gilead in verses 30 to 38. There are four things we ought to consider.
The Disguise of Ahab
First, the disguise of Ahab. That Ahab proposes this ought to ring bells in the heads of those who read the Bible. there are two other men that utilize disguises in the former prophets. That means judges through second kings. Those two men were Saul, wicked, godless Saul, and then Jeroboam, the son of Nebat.
That Ahab here now proposes to disguise himself while Jehoshaphat goes into battle in his royal robes, again, should have caused Jehoshaphat a great deal of concern. And it also occurs to us, or it should occur to us, that Ahab is hedging his bets. He believes the 400 false prophets. He rejects the true prophet Micaiah.
So why don't you go into battle with your royal robes? If you think these 400 men are true, and if you think Micaiah is the liar, then you ought not to want to go in disguise. You ought to want to march right up to the front lines, because you know that Ramoth Gilead is there for the taking. But he's hedging his bets.
He doesn't have that peace in his heart and soul that causes him to march into battle with his royal robes. He's got that sinking feeling. and the treachery of this disguise. I believe that he knew specifically that Ben-Hadad was gunning for him. As we move through the narrative, the instructions from Ben-Hadad to his Syrian army is don't bother with anybody else than the king of Israel.
What's Ben-Hadad's reasoning? We kill him and we break the back of the Israeli armies or the Israelite armies. We can put them down by simply dispatching Ahab. I suspect that Ahab knew that and therefore Ahab doesn't want to wander in to the battle with reference with reference to that understanding.
Again, Matthew Henry. He says, see what those, Jehoshaphat, get that joined in affinity with vicious men, whose consciences are debauched and who are lost to everything that is honorable. How can it be expected that he should be true to his friend that has been false to his God? You see, he is basically telling Jehoshaphat, I want you to wear your royal robes so that the aggression of the Syrian army will be directed at you.
I'm just going to go ahead and sort of, you know, dress up like a common soldier. I'm just going to dress like a regular, normal, ordinary guy. He's telling Jehoshaphat, I want you to go out there and get killed and slaughtered by the Syrian army, if that is indeed their intention. This is a wretched man.
This is a vile man. And yet Jehoshaphat keeps going. You kind of want to read this passage and scream at Jehoshaphat, or at least encourage him to stop. Don't do it, Jehoshaphat.
Ahab's a bad dude. Don't do it, Jehoshaphat. Ahab is a fearful man. Ahab is a coward.
Ahab is leading you out as the sacrificial lamb to the slaughter. Go back for just a moment in verse 4 of 1 Kings 22, when this alliance was first initiated with reference to this battle at Ramoth Gilead. Jehoshaphat said to... so verse 4 at the beginning. So he said, Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, will you go with me to fight at Ramoth Gilead?
Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses. Well, that's a terrible thing to promise to a man that's as godless and as wretched and as wicked as this Ahab. This is what Henry says. How can it be expected that he, Ahab, should be true to his friend, Jehoshaphat, that has been false to his God?
Brethren, if people hate God, they're opposed to God, they're enmity with God, more often than not, they're not going to be good friends. They're not going to be loyal. They're not going to be true. They're not going to be the kinds of people that you can count on.
They're the kinds of people, however, that are opportunists. They're the kinds of people that will willingly sacrifice you on the field of battle. We need to be wise. We need to mix our piety with good sense.
Again, I think that's Jehoshaphat's problem. He's a pious man. He's a godly man. That's why we're going to continue past the death of Ahab to consider this man Jehoshaphat, but he's a man that's lacking in some sense at this particular juncture in his career.
The Syrian Plan: Target the King
Now notice, secondly, in terms of the battle. We see the plan of the Syrians in verses 31 to 33. The command to target only Ahab. Notice in verse 31.
Now the king of Syria had commanded the 32 captains of his chariots, saying, fight with no one small or great, but only with the king of Israel. Did Ahab get wind of that? Did he have intel? It sure seems that way, because he doesn't want to dress like the king of Israel.
He knows their purpose and plan. He knows that they're targeting him. He knows that he's got the crosshairs on him. And so the king of Syria makes this statement to his soldiers, and then notice specifically with reference to verse 32.
It says, so it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said, surely it is the king of Israel. Therefore, they turned aside to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat cried out. See, Ahab's plan worked, didn't it? Isn't that just sad sometimes?
You know, you see this world, you see wicked people, and sometimes what they do actually works. Now, it doesn't, and we'll see how it's all frustrated, and how God, in His sovereign providence, deals in such a way as to bring good, even out of a terrible situation. But at least surface level. I think this is, you know, Asaph's trouble in Psalm 73.
Asaph's looking around at the righteous, and they seem to be suffering. He looks around at the unrighteous, and they seem to be, you know, no problems. They got summer homes. They got nice cars.
They have the best phones. They got everything. Good jobs, good wives, good kids. Everything's going great for them.
Asaph laments over this because at least on a service level it looks like the bad guys are winning It wasn't until he went into the sanctuary of the Lord It wasn't until he got God's perspective on life and he realized doubt has set them in slippery places But in this particular instance Ahab's plan is working Ahab says I'm going to disguise myself I want you to put on your royal robes and that's precisely what happens the Syrians find him the Syrians think that he's the king of Israel the Syrians are going to dispatch Now the parallel in 2 Chronicles shows us more of the Lord's intervention in this particular exchange. Notice in verse 32 again. So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said, surely it is the king of Israel. Therefore they turned aside to fight against him and Jehoshaphat cried out.
And it happened when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they turned back from pursuing him. In 2 Chronicles 18.31. We read, so it was, when the captains of the chariot saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, it is the king of Israel. Therefore they surrounded him to attack, but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him, and God diverted them from him.
Now, that's certainly the meaning here in 1 Kings 22, but it's amplified for us in 2 Chronicles. And I think there's a practical lesson for us to discern in this particular exchange, and it's simply this. We ought to mix piety with good sense. That ought to be our pursuit.
That ought to be our goal. We ought to be godly men and godly women, praying for general wisdom and specific wisdom for the various issues in our lives. We ought to have that combination in our hearts, but we also ought to recognize the graciousness of our God to deliver us at times, even when we lack good sense. You see, God didn't owe Jehoshaphat this.
God didn't owe him the diversion of these Syrian troops. Jehoshaphat had entered into an alliance with a guy that nobody should have entered into an alliance with. He's lacking good sense. But the grace of God is magnified or manifested in this reality.
Sometimes you and I do foolish things. Sometimes you, well, maybe you don't. You're all looking at me a bit puzzled. Sometimes I do foolish things and I praise God for His graciousness that it doesn't end as calamitous as it could have or should have.
Has that ever been your experience? Have you ever done something really foolish and found out, boy, God nevertheless is gracious. He blessed me in spite of me. He doesn't bless us sometimes because of us.
He blesses us in spite of us. So you see, the grace of God is evident in Ramoth Gilead at the deliverance of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. He lacks good sense, but he has a gracious God. He lacks good sense, but he has a merciful father.
He lacks good sense, but when the Syrians are hot on his trail, God the Lord diverts them. God the Lord disperses them. God the Lord preserves Jehoshaphat. He truly is gracious.
He truly is good.
The Random Arrow and Divine Providence
Now notice, thirdly, this random bow shot in verse 34. This random bow shot in verse 34. Now, a certain man drew a bow at random. In our studies this morning of divine providence, we know there's no real thing as randomness or luck or chance.
Everything that happens happens according to God's plan, God's purpose, God's decree. In other words, a leaf doesn't blow across the sidewalk apart from God's decree. You know, Jesus says that God knows how many hairs are on our head, and that's not because he spends Thursday counting. Jesus says that a sparrow doesn't fall apart from the will of your Father in heaven.
The language here is the language of man. It's an accommodation to us. There's no randomness in this world. There's no chance.
There's no luck. We don't pray to God that we'll have a lucky day. The randomness or the reference to randomness here is specifically spoken to us in the manner of man. It's an accommodation to us.
And we ought to appreciate the randomness was not absolutely random. I mean, a Syrian soldier drew his bow and launched an arrow at an Israelite soldier. So it wasn't, you know, just haphazard some guy out in the middle of nowhere just happens to do. There is a battle.
And this Syrian soldier draws his bow, lets an arrow fly toward an Israelite target. He doesn't know that that target happens to be Ahab. But the randomness was seen in the arrow hitting both the right person and the right place. of divine providence. He governs all his creatures and all their actions.
God is sovereign over a random arrow in this particular battle. Verse 34, now a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. So this random bow, this random arrow rather, is seen hitting the right person and the right place. If you've ever doubted God's sovereignty, you really should read the former prophets.
Next time you fight with an Arminian on Facebook, point him to this passage. Ask him, is God sovereign over all things? Well, yeah, but not everything. Well, he's sovereign over this arrow that finds its place in the right spot in the right man on the field of battle.
A man who, by the way, is disguised, a man who's not wearing the royal robes, a man who's offered up Jehoshaphat as the sacrificial lamb, a man that has taken pains to not be found out on the field of battle, and this man pulls his bow, shoots his arrow, and it finds the right target in the right place. Listen to John Gill. But though He did this in His simplicity, as the Word signifies, without any intention to smite any particular person, yet God directed the arrow to the man He had marked for destruction, and neither His disguise nor coat of mail could secure from that. and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness, of which the pieces of armor on him were joined together, the higher and lower parts of it, the breastplate, and what covered the belly. And though these were joined as close as they were capable of joining them in those times, yet the arrow, guided by divine providence, found its way into his body.
Do you know what that arrow illustrates? Do you know what that arrow demonstrates? Certainly God and His sovereignty, certainly divine providence, but up to this point in the narrative, it illustrates the veracity, the truthfulness, the sureness of God's Word. 1 Kings 21, Elijah the Tishbite tells him he's going to die. 1 Kings 20, the unnamed prophet, verse 42, tells him he's going to die. 1 Kings 22, the first half of the chapter, Micaiah, the man who only speaks what the Lord tells him, tells him he's going to die. So that random bow shot, that random arrow, demonstrates the veracity of the Word of God.
It shows us that what He says will most certainly come to pass. Davis says Yahweh's Word comes to pass almost casually. It is not the order of the king of Aram that disposes of Ahab, but the decree of Yahweh, and that in the most accidental way. Ahab was plated all over with iron and brass, but there is always a crevice through which God's arrow can find its way.
That's what we call the inerrancy of the Word. Matthew Henry said, no armor is of proof against the darts of divine vengeance. Case the criminal in steel, and it is all one. He that made him can make his sword to approach him.
That which to us seems altogether casual is done by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. It's a beautiful thing. Not that this man died on the field of battle, though he was a wicked man, and the righteous should rejoice when the wicked are dispatched. But what's beautiful is the reality that God's word is true.
God's word is sure. It is a word that one can sink his teeth into. It is a word that we can have confidence in. That random arrow finding its mark in the right man and in the right spot. should illustrate for us that those who come to Jesus will not be frustrated.
They'll not be turned away. If the God of 1 Kings chapter 22, the God who caused that arrow to find Ahab, that God tells us that all who come to me I will in no wise cast out, we can have the same sort of confidence with John 6.37 that we have with these statements concerning the death of Ahab. It comes to pass just as surely as God had spoken. And it comes to pass just as surely as Jesus promises that those who come to me, I will in no wise cast out.
Now,
The Death of Ahab
notice in terms of the battle at Ramoth Gilead, fourthly and finally, the death of Ahab, in verses 35 and following. Well, beginning in verse 34 in the middle. So he said to the driver of his chariot, turn around and take me out of the battle, for I am wounded. And then he says, the battle increased that day and the king was propped up in his chariot.
He was most likely propped up for morale. Morale, you don't want the Israelite army to see its king dying bleeding out So he's propped up so that the king or the the Israelite army will still fight on will still try to liberate Ramoth Gilead will still engage the Syrians on the field of battle so he's propped up but he is bleeding out and And he ultimately dies, and he dies in the manner consistent with what the Tishbite had said. Notice in verse 36, it says, Then as the sun was going down, a shout went throughout the army, saying, Every man to his city, and every man to his own country. And then we find the king died, verse 37, and was brought to Samaria, and they buried the king in Samaria.
Then someone washed the chariot at a pool in Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood while the harlots bathed, according to the word of the Lord which he had spoken. Now the text does not demand that Ahab's blood be shed at Jezreel. Naboth's blood was spilled outside of Jezreel. Ahab's blood is spilled outside of Samaria.
I think that's the connection between what the Tishbite prophesied in 1 Kings 21 and what we find in this particular passage. The reality is the Word of God is fulfilled, and He bleeds out. Notice this reference in verse 38. Someone washed the chariot at a pool in Samaria, and the dogs licked up His blood while the harlots bathed, according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken.
Now, for those of us who aren't real keen on these idioms, it's basically saying business as usual on this particular day as the blood of Ahab has been spilled. Davis explains, at any rate, the biblical writer saw no major rubs between 2119 and 2238. Some suggest that what the Tishbite says in 21 is inconsistent with the death of Ahab. It's not consistent.
It is fulfillment. But he says, or he would have never claimed the latter fulfilled the former. And he says, in what a moment, dogs feverish for every trace of blood, prostitutes calmly preparing for the night's work. Some things go on even when kings die.
And then finally, this summary concerning Ahab in verses 39 and 40. Now, this is intriguing because oftentimes you get sort of statements about Ahab. I mean, he reigned for 22 years. Was everything he did bad?
Probably not. I mean, if a fellow reigns for 22 years, at some point along the line, he probably gets something right. And I think that's what verse 39 alludes to. Notice.
Now, the rest of the acts of Ahab and all that he did, the ivory house which he built and all the cities that he built, that's a good thing, right? If you were one that dwelt in those cities, you were probably thankful for King Ahab and his building projects so that you had a place now to hang your hat and rest your weary bones. He says, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel? He's saying that there were accomplishments that Ahab had done.
There were good things that Ahab had done, but the emphasis in 1 Kings 16 to 1 Kings 22 is not on the good things that Ahab had done. There's only one thing that is important for the writer in Kings, and that is, how does he fare with reference to the Word of God? How does he measure up with reference to the Word of God? Not can he build an ivory house and not can he build cities, but is he obedient to the divine Word?
That's the standard by which these kings are judged. That's the standard by which these men are reminisced on. And this, again, is what we ought to take away from it. Davis, one final time, says, look back over the six-plus Ahab chapters, and you cannot miss the focus of the biblical writer.
For him, there is only one question about Ahab that has any consequence. How did he stack up beside the word and commandments of God? It is the issue of Matthew 7, 24 to 27. Matthew 7, 24-27 are the two builders, the one who built his house on the sand, the other who built his house on the rock.
The one who built his house on the sand is that who heard the Word of Christ and didn't do it. The one who built his house on the rock is the one who heard the Word of Christ and did it. He goes on to say, verse 39 shows us that the Word of God ignores what we regard as significant and prizes what we regard as mundane. See, the issue isn't in terms of the kings of Israel.
What did they build? How did they administrate? How did they do wonderful things? Or how did they do the various things that they did?
The issue is, did they obey the word of God? Did they build their house on the rock? So that's the death of Ahab.
The Reigns of Jehoshaphat and Ahaziah
Let's look finally and quickly at the reigns of Jehoshaphat and Ahaziah. Not a lot here concerning Ahaziah, but let's look at Jehoshaphat.
Jehoshaphat: Reign and Religious Policy
Notice the details of his reign in verses 41 and 42. He was the son of Esau. In 1524, we find when Asa dies, he has Jehoshaphat. But then at that particular point, beginning in chapter 16 or about halfway through chapter 15, the spotlight shifts from Judah over to Israel.
So we've been in the northern kingdom up until this particular time, and now the spotlight's back, at least for this moment, on the southern kingdom, which is Judah. So Jehoshaphat is the son of Asa. Now note the description of his reign in verses 43 and following, his religious policy, verse 43. He walked in all the ways of his father Esau.
He did not turn aside from them, doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord." It's an amazing statement, isn't it? He's doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord. You mean even when a man engages in things that aren't full of good sense, he can receive this summary statement? I think we'll learn something here about God.
He's a whole lot nicer than we are. He's a whole lot kinder than we are. Somebody does one thing wrong with reference to us, and it's done over their Beelzebub's brother. They're just the worst.
Terrible people. Well, Jehoshaphat does some fundamentally flawed things in this section. He joined with Ahab, and yet the overarching testimony concerning him, with reference to God the Lord, is that he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Middle of verse 43, nevertheless, the high places were not taken away, for the people offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.
You read the parallel in 2 Chronicles, you might be confused, because it says that he did take away the high places. I think Matthew Poole sort of harmonizes it well. The high places devoted to paganism were dashed down. The high places devoted to Yahwehism were nevertheless remaining intact.
So that's kind of how you understand those statements that seem a bit paradoxical or contradictory. But notice as well, his civil policy is outlined in verse 44. We've already seen this. Also, Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.
Again, not a bad thing altogether. I think kings ought to really labor to be peacemakers. I think kings ought to try to have alliances, and they ought to not want to be warring, and they ought to want to maintain for their body politic and others, an environment of peace. But to enter into an alliance with Ahab is simply not a good plan.
God delivered him, again, not because of Jehoshaphat, but in spite of Jehoshaphat. And then in terms of his ethical policy, verse 46 indicates, It says, "...and the rest of the perverted persons who remained in the days of his father Esau, he banished from the land." The prohibition against these perverted persons is found in Deuteronomy 23, 17 and 18. In Esau's time, he banished these perverted persons as well, and we see it here with reference to Jehoshaphat. Now, in terms of these perverted persons, a particular Bible dictionary says, many considered that the processes of nature were controlled by the relations between gods and goddesses.
By engaging in sexual intercourse with devotees of the shrine, they believed that this would encourage the gods and goddesses to do likewise, with the result that a person's desire for increase and herds and fields, as well as his own family, could be realized. So these perverted persons were the types of people that would have relations in order to get the gods and goddesses to perform and do good things upon the land. Baal was a god that was that way. Baal and Asherah were allegedly consorts, and the worshippers would fornicate to try to get Baal and Asherah to fornicate, and then there would be good things that would come as a result.
Again, this is bad. It's horrible. This is the kind of religion that Israel bumped into in Canaan. And yet, they were told to reject it, to have no truck with it, and they embraced it.
They imbibed it. They engaged in it. It didn't vanish when Esau banished the perverted persons. It's already back here at the time of Jehoshaphat.
It is going to come back later, post-Jehoshaphat age. His foreign policy is indicated in verses 47 and following. He relates or continues relationships with the nation of Edom when there was no king. And then in terms of his policy with Ahaziah, he doesn't enter into it according to this.
He gets quite close and in somewhat of a league with Ahaziah in Chronicles. But here he says no in terms of Ahaziah's participation with him. in this particular sea battle.
Ahaziah: Following Wicked Examples
And then finally, look at Ahaziah. There's only really one thing to say about him. He followed the wicked examples in his life. I mean, there are exceptions to the rule, and we see that in the kings of Judah specifically, but for the most part, the sons followed the patterns of the fathers, and we see that here with reference to Ahaziah.
Ahaziah, verse 51, the son of Ahab, became king over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel. He did evil in the sight of the Lord. and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat." Those three terrible influences in his life. Father Ahab, Mother Jezebel. I mean, this poor kid.
I mean, that's just terrible, isn't it? Who's your dad, Ahab? Who's your mom, Jezebel? Wow, you know, can we pray for you?
We feel sorry for you. He just had it rough. But nevertheless, there are kings that emerge even when they had godless parentage. But in this instance, he follows suit.
So it's godless Ahab, godless Jezebel, and godless Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. The end of the description of his life is somewhat inevitable. Verse 53, for he served Baal and worshiped him and provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger according to all that his father had done. Matthew Henry says, miserable are the children that not only derive a stock of corruption from their parents, but are thus taught by them to trade with it.
And unhappy, most unhappy parents are those that help to damn their children's souls. That's a very powerful statement that we should all take heed to as parents of children.
Application
Well, in conclusion, the death of Ahab, he reigned 22 years. According to verse 39, there were some accomplishments along the way. He built an ivory house, and he built cities, and there were some things that probably prospered the Israelite nation, but that's not what's in view in terms of the author of 1 Kings. What's in view is he didn't listen to the word of God.
He had Elijah the Tishbite and he rejected him. He has the unnamed prophet in chapter 20 and he rejects him. He has Elijah again in chapter 21 and he rejects him. He has Micaiah, a man that's gonna tell him the truth and he rejects him.
And at some level in his heart of hearts, he at least showed a willingness to hedge his bets because what Micaiah said must have affected him for him to disguise himself and put Jehoshaphat out into the battlefront as the sacrificial lamb. The wickedness of Ahab exceeded those before him and set the standard for wickedness for his posterity. Look at 1 Kings chapter 16. When we first meet Ahab, that is what is told to us. 1 Kings 16, verse 31.
And it came to pass as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ephbaal, king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. Then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. And Ahab made a wooden image. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
Now, that's a terrible prize to get. I'm worse than Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. I have now become the benchmark for evil in the nation of Israel. The downfall of Ahab was ultimately connected to his rejection of the word of the Lord.
It wasn't the superiority of the Syrian army. It wasn't the superiority of Ben-Hadad. It wasn't the superiority of their strategies on the field of battle at Ramoth Gilead. Remember, it was a random bow.
It was a random arrow that flew under God's divine sovereignty and found its mark in this man and in his armor. As well, we ought to appreciate, we need wisdom. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach. The fact that you're godly doesn't necessarily mean that you have good sense.
If you lack good sense, pray to the Lord who gives good sense. If you lack good sense, study Scripture more so that you'll have good sense. Jehoshaphat is walking blindly into a destruction zone, and it's God who basically grabs him by the collar and yanks him out of the field of battle. God is gracious and God is good, and there are a multitude of times that God undertakes on our behalf, even when we've exercised a lack of judgment, but God, or rather, we ought to pursue wisdom and good horse sense.
And then finally, we ought to appreciate in this passage the sovereign judgment of God. He will get his Ahab. I mean, six chapters are devoted to Ahab. 22 years are devoted to Ahab. For us, 22 days seems like an eternity, doesn't it?
You're waiting for something, and it's 22 days away, and you're thinking, I don't know if I'm going to make it. Not so much when you're older, you don't really care anymore. But when you're young, it's like 22 days. I don't know if I can wait that long. 22 days is nothing. 22 years is really nothing, but it seems like a long time.
Think of bad government officials reigning or ruling for 22 years. Then you can sort of appreciate just how long it is. So you might be inclined along the way to say, well, the Lord has forgotten. The Lord's not going to require it.
The Lord's not going to demand. The Lord's not going to bring his judgment to bear upon this wicked king. Oh, yes, he will. You know, when I was growing up, the only thing I knew about Canada was that it was up there.
That was it. And then it was cold, and that everybody lived in igloos, and that the Mounties always got their man. I moved up here, and I found out you don't even really call them Mounties. It's the RCMP.
Everybody in America calls them Mounties, but here you call them RCMP. But that was in my head. The Mounties always get their man. Was that their motto at one time?
Is that how they sort of got drummed up business or recruiting ploys? Hey, we always get our man. They don't. Just read any newspaper.
Just drive the city streets. The Mounties don't always get their man. But God Most High does. Even if it's a random arrow on the field of battle in Ramoth, Gilead, when every attempt has been made to evade that arrow.
Ahab didn't go into this battle willy-nilly. Ahab actually showed an ingenious approach to the battle. He suspected that Ben-Hadad was gunning for him and him alone. So he takes off his royal robes, convinces Jehoshaphat to wear his, so that Jehoshaphat will be viewed as the king of Israel.
So Ahab took pains to avoid death on the field of battle. One man pulls back the random arrow and it finds its mark in the right man in the right spot. God always gets his man. The only way we can hide from the wrath of God is at the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The only place of safety, the only place of security, the only place where we'll be shielded from those arrows of God's holy wrath is at the cross of Jesus Christ. Let us find ourselves there, hiding behind that one who is altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank you for your Word, and we thank you for these lessons that we can learn from these kings in the Old Testament. And I pray that you would give us not only piety, true piety, but also good sense, good judgment, good wisdom as we live our lives. Help us to do so in a manner that is consistent with the revealed will of God in Holy Scripture. We ask that you would go with us now, that you would provide and protect us in this coming week, that you would bless our brothers and sisters that are struggling, that are encountering various trials, and God help each and every one to persevere and to bring glory and honor and praise unto you.
And we ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. Well, why don't we close by standing and singing the doxology in praise to our triune God? We'll stand and sing the doxology together. ♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪ ♪ Praise him all creatures here below ♪ ♪ Praise him above ye heavenly host ♪ ♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ Amen. Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Amen. Go with us now, Father, help us to know these truths in our own hearts and in our own lives, and how we thank you that so often you deliver us, not because of our goodness, but in spite of our foolishness. Give us grace, God, to pursue the things that are pleasing in your sight and do undertake when we do engage in folly. and behavior that is inconsistent. We can't rest upon that, but certainly we can trust in the graciousness and in the kindness and in the goodness of our Heavenly Father.
Go with us, we pray, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.